Vehicle-top



l. E. KARL.

VEHICLE TOP.

KPPLICATIQN FILED IULY 6,- 19H. 1,371,626. Pjenwd Man-15,1921.

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VEHICLE TGP.

f l APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, 19t?. y V 1,371,626. Patented Mar.15,1921.

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` JULIUS E. KARL, 0F PEOR-IA, ILLINOIS. i

VEHICLE-TOP.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application led July 6, 1917. Serial No. 179,080.

in the county lof Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful improvements in Vehicle-Tops; and l do hereby declarethat the following is a full,

cleaigand exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the' same.

rThis invention relates to vehicle tops. It relates more particularly toa form of folding top for vehicles which will be semiautomatic in itsaction in that in being lifted to its extended position over the vehiclethe slight manual effort required will be assisted by certain parts tocarry said top to its said extended position.

Besides having for one of its objectsto furnish a top of the one mantype, the primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide atop for vehicles with certain elements of such a nature that they willpractically carry said top to its extended position for use after beingslightly raised from its folded position.

Another object is to provide certain'elements in combination with theparts of a folding top to automatically carry the several parts of thetop to their normal positions when the top is being extended for use.

Certain advantages, also, will appear from the following specification,aided by the accompanying drawing, which shows one embodiment ofmyinvention, it being understood that changes may be made such as willlie within the meaning and intent of the invention and within the scopeof the 'appended claims. 1

Figure 1 is an elevation of a vehicle top, the fabric being in section,showing my improved top supporting `Vportion applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the top in the act of folding, the coveringfabric not beind shown. A

Fig. 3 is a plan of certain parts illustrated in Fig. 1. 1

Fig. isa longitudinal section of one of the parts of the folding top,and a companion part'pivoted thereto.

` Fig. 5 is a plan of portions of the same, part bein' shownin-horizontal section; and, i Fig. 6 siows, en1arged,and in perspective,

certain and 5.

1 indicates a horizontally disposed rail secured in any suitable mannerto each side of the body of the vehicle, but one' of which is shown,each having a slidable sleeve :2. Pivoted to the sleeve is a socket 3carrying a bow 1, the socket and bow standing in a nearly uprightposition and placed far enough to the rearthat it will not obstruct theview of persons in the rear seat.

5 is a link pivoted at one end to a part of said socket and at its otherend to a fixed sleeve 5 or other suitable portion secured on the rail,but said link may be pivoted to the rail itself, if desired, 52 being acontractile spring on the rail and attached at its ends to the twosleeves 2 and 5 for example.

7 is a rail secured to and spaced from the side of the socket 3, whosepurpose will be made known as the description proceeds.

The top structure comprises a series of members of lazy-tongsconstruction, 8 indicating a tubular member or socket, one end beingpivotally attached to a sliding sleeve 9 on the rail 7, its other endbeing pivoted to one end of a rod-member 10, the other end of the latterpivoted in turn to a tubular member or socket 11 provided with a bow 12at its forward end. 13 is a member pivoted at its forward end to atubular member or socket 1.4-, Said members 1? and 8 cross one anotherat vsubstantially the middle of their lengths and are pivotally related.The rear end of the member 13 is provided with a bend forming an angularshort arm 16. Substantially at its said bend jointed parts illustratedin Figs. 4:

the arm is pivoted to a bracket 17 extending from the forward face ofthe socket 3 and to the free end of the said arm 16 is pivoted a link 18which in turn is pivoted to a short bow 19 at the rear of and pivoted atits lower end to the socket 3.

The socket 14 and the member 10 are piv- 4oted at substantially themiddle of their lengths and cross Vone another, and 20 is a link pivotedat its ends to the said socket 14 and the socket 11 substantially asshown in Fig. 1.,

21 is a bow pivotally carried at the 'uncture of the socket 8 and member10. referably this bow extends below the pivot, as shown in Fig. 1, andhas a stud 22 extending therefrom to engage beneath the member 10 in thefolding operation, as shown in Fig. 2.

The entire top fabric carrying structure and the socket 3 are rigid withre spect to one another, thewhole being supported in rigid positionthrough the rail 1 and the link 5 described. The spring 52 in theposition shown in Fig. 1, when closedY .between the ixed sleeve 5 andthe slidable vfor assisting in moving the top to its extended positionshown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 4: one of these tubular sockets, or that corresponding to 8, forexample, is shown in longitudinal section but is that socket at theopposite side of the top as it would appear to an occupant of thevehicle.

23is a casting secured in one end of the bow 'tor attachment to thesleeve 9, its inner end having an eye or other suitable portion 24 `towhich is connected one end of a contractile spring 25. In the oppositeend of the tube is inserted a casting 26 having a bend and provided witha shoulder 2 7. The companion member 10 in which the tube is associatedmay be merely a flat bar and has a corresponding oppositely formed bendwhich is pivoted to the said casting 26 at v28. The bent portion of themember 10 includes a finger 29 extended beyond its pivot as best shownin Fig. 6, and also has a shoulder 30 to abut upon the shoulder 27'asshown inl that figure. v

31 is a member connected to the finger 29 with the described spring 25.Those ends oi the members 13 and 14: that are pivotally connected andthose ends of the member 10 and socket. 11 that are also pivotallyconvnected are constructed in the same manner.

The described casting 26, as shown in Fig. 5, has a longitudinal opening32 through which the said member 31 extends.

.It is observed that when the socket 8 and Y from the` casting 26to'wardthe opposite side of the ypivot pointfthereby stretching the spring to aconsiderable extent and Y'in the Jfolded position, the member 31 beingbrought close to the pivot 28, prevents the spring from exerting a pullsuficient lto move the parts from the folded-position.

YThat isto say, the pull of ltheicombined springs contained 1n thesocketsvS, 14 and .11 at each .sideof the top are not sufficientposition. I t p The abutting shoulders 27 and 30 are proto cause saidtop to lift when ,in the folded vbow e automatically. f 1

vided in order that the top will4 not be extended farther than thatshown in Fig. 1, the

Vsprings being prevented from drawing the joints of the various partscloser together, the various sockets and the members crossing themalways bearing the same relation to one another in the extendedposition. The springs in -the sockets 141 and 11 are attached to theends of the bowsV 15 and 12 respectively by screw eyes or other devicesattached to the latter (but not shown) making a form` of attachmentsubstantially the same as the attachment of the spring in the socket Sdescribed when attachedV to the eye 24.

The pivots for the sockets 8, 14 and 11 and their members 13, l10, 2Owhere they cross are substantially as shown in Fig. 5 wherein 32 is aplate that may be secured to cachot the several sockets, there being astud-33 extending therefrom to take the said members. By thisarrangementor its equivalent the interior of the socket will not beobstructed by passing a rivet or other part through it. Y

lu toldingthe Vtop down to the position shown in Fig. 2, the sleeve 9 ismoved down upon the rod 7 at the same time of course moving the toprearwardly. The point of connection of the link 5 with the socket 3 atthis Atime causes the sleeve 2 to move forwardV bow 3 onthe sleeve 2will be practically in line, the springs cannot exert a pull suiiicientto raise said top. Y

As the parts-assume the folded position theivarious sockets and thecross members pivoted to them will reverse their position, all o'l thesprings 25 being placed under strain as alreadydescribed7 the topretaining its said position by its own weight. It is observed by a studyof Fig. 2 thatthe arm 16 of the member 13 assumes a positionperpendicular to thek socket 3y where in the raised position it isparallel to it,V and its movement to this position drawsethe short bow19 close up beneath'vthe socket Y3 and The Vdescribed stud 22 on the bow'21vengages beneath the member 10 and thus Supports said bow parallel tothe other members of the structure. p

y In restoring the top to its raised or extended position the bow 3 israised assisted by the spring 52 and as the vsleeve 9 approaches theouter or upper end of the rod 7 andthe fingers 29 vare moved so that theVSprings lcan exert a P1111, theeeere top will be carried forwardwithout ei'ort on the part of the attendant, the bow 2l rising to itsupright position due to the pull of fabric thereon and automatically thebow I9 is moved rearwardly to its open position in Fig. l, the top beingsupported upon the wind-shield or any other desired member. In theabsence of the spring 52, if not used, the top is raised by manualeiiort alone but since the springs 25 exert themselves the moment theline of their pull is moved away from the pivots 28, the top being atonce extended acts as a lever whose weight being thrown forward of thesupports for the socket 3 readily restores the whole structure tolposition for use. Suitable means may be provided on the rail forlimiting the rearward movement of the sleeve 2.

By distributing the several springs throughout the structure each isseparately in control of pairs of members. Thereby said springs arerequired to be only of such strength individually that when operating inconjunction the combined forces are suicient for proper work.

The springs are then not in danger of breaking as would likely resultwhen but one is used and made strong enough to do the work of several.Furthermore, the manipulation oi' the top is more smooth and positive inany of its positions.

iis already intimated, slight changes may be made in the construction ofmy improved top, all of which will be suggested to the mind orn thepractical person.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In combination with a vehicle body, a foldable top including in itsconstruction a lever comprising connected members forming a truss, astandard carrying one of the members of the rear end of the trussincluding a guide upon which one of the other members of the truss isslidable, the standard and guide acting to suspend the truss in itsextended position, a rod mounted horizontally upon the vehicle uponwhich the standard is supported and above which it is adapted to move, aspring engaging the standard constantly tending to carry the same te itsupright position, a link connected to the standard adapted to limit themovement of the same upon the rod, and a series of springs connectedbetween members of the pairs of members of the truss constantly tendingto project the truss to its extended position over the vehicle body.

In combination with a vehicle body, a rail mounted in a horizontalposition thereon, a fabric carrying structure, a support to carry thesame slidably mounted on said rail, a link pivoted at one end relativelyt0 the body and at its other end to the support at a point spaced fromits slidably mounted end, and a spring operatively engaging the supportacting to move the same in the direction of the link.

3. A foldable vehicle top including in its construction pairs of memberspivotally connected forming a lazy-tongs, one of the members of eachpair at its end having such connection including a part extending beyondits pivot substantially in line with the longitudinal line of the othermember of the pair, a spring comiected at its endsto the said part andsaid other member, the line of pull oi the spring in the folded positionof the top lying substantially across the pivot, a standard carrying thelazy-tongs, a member supported horizontally upon the vehicle, thestandard having slidable engagement with it, a link pivotally connectedat one end to the standard and pivoted at its other end with respect tothe last named member, and a contractile spring fixed at one endrelatively to the said member, its other end being operatively connectedto the said standard.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JULIUS E. KARL.

Witnesses JUDsoN STARR, L. M. THURLow.

